This was announced by City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog after he met with Undersecretary Briccio Santos, chairman of the Film Development Council of the

Philippines under the Office of the President on Tuesday, November 30, to finalize the plan of holding the Iloilo Film Festival on January 19-21, 2011, in time for the Dinagyang celebration.

Santos said the Iloilo Film Festival is in celebration of the first Sineng Pambansa to be held at SM City cinemas. All the films are full length and have been previewed, screened and recognized in competitions and film festivals abroad. However, they have not yet been shown in any local or national theaters or cinema houses.

“Yanggaw” by Richard Somes is the sole Ilonggo feature included in the film fest.

Santos said the Film Development Council came to be through Republic Act 9167, which seeks to set and establish a national film archive made by Filipino filmmakers and to develop and promote locally produced films that meet international standards.

The country's premier actors among them are Coco Martin in "Astig" (directed by Giuseppe Bede Sampedro) and Rosanna Roces in "Lola" (helmed by premier director Brillante Mendoza).

On the other hand, Mabilog said that the selection of Iloilo City to host the film festival is a manifestation of national filmmakers' awareness that culture and movies are alive in Iloilo.

Iloilo has several independent filmmakers and directors of. Among these are lawyer Joenar Pueblo, Oskie Nava, Kevin Piamonte and the late Quin Baterna.

Mabilog said he is happy to note that the University of the Philippines Visayas has recently been producing short indie films in the local dialect Hiligaynon to showcase the moral values, tradition and culture of the Ilonggos.

The UPV indie film producers are also expected to showcase their works during the Dinagyang Festival.